Of all the campaign issues, I think the most important one (notice I said “most important” not most popular, or most considered) is the one of how our new President will be able to hold up in the international arena. Take a moment and imagine your favorite candidate being confronted by say, the Iran Hostage Crisis, or 9-11 or the Cuban Missile Crisis. Does he or she have what it takes to get our country through it? This is a job where failure is not an option. Repercussion of that failure last for generations.
Take Jimmy Carter and the Iranian affair. He completely froze when a group of students took over our American Embassy in that country. Embassies have a unique status. It is as if those properties are part of the country that the ambassadors represent; not part of the countries where they are located. Attacking a country’s embassy is legally the same as attacking the country. So, for the “students” to attack our embassy with the blessing of the people who just took over their country, a particular response was mandatory. Carter froze. Our people remained in captivity for over 500 days. The details of what transpired over that period of time mark some of the bleakest times in American foreign relations.
The thing to know here is that when elections came, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter. As Reagan was being inaugurated, the Iranians were setting in motion the release of the hostages. Where they tied Jimmy Carter’s crack negotiating teams in knots, they immediately gave up the hostages as Reagan became President. Were there some backdoor deals to make it happen? Yes there were. But the deals were delivered with a clear message; a velvet glove over a rock-hard fist. “Let our people go – right now!” Even though Reagan was immediately successful, the 500 days of allowing the Iranian Islamists to have their way with us took its toll. We pay the price today. Indeed one of the “students” is now their leader. And he has learned well. Have we?
With the whole menu of candidates out there, we have many choices. But if you simply apply the Carter / Reagan filter to the list, then it really sorts out quickly. Would your candidate be a Carter or a Reagan?
The thing to know here is that when elections came, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter. As Reagan was being inaugurated, the Iranians were setting in motion the release of the hostages. Where they tied Jimmy Carter’s crack negotiating teams in knots, they immediately gave up the hostages as Reagan became President. Were there some backdoor deals to make it happen? Yes there were. But the deals were delivered with a clear message; a velvet glove over a rock-hard fist. “Let our people go – right now!” Even though Reagan was immediately successful, the 500 days of allowing the Iranian Islamists to have their way with us took its toll. We pay the price today. Indeed one of the “students” is now their leader. And he has learned well. Have we?
With the whole menu of candidates out there, we have many choices. But if you simply apply the Carter / Reagan filter to the list, then it really sorts out quickly. Would your candidate be a Carter or a Reagan?
Here is my list
Obama - - - Carter
Edwards - - - Carter
Biden - - - Reagan lite
Giuliani - - - Reagan
Thompson - - - Reagan
Romney - - - Where’s the money in this deal? What are the percentages?
Huckabee - - - Jimmy Carter II
McCain - - - Reagan
Imagine this: Iran announces that it is closing the Straits of Hormuz. All the oil that travels that way is immediately stopped. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai are all on the phone pleading for immediate intervention. Then the red phone rings. It is Iran's new best friend Vladimir Putin. He is about to give our new President a threat. Who do you want to see taking that call?
3 comments:
It's funny, I was almost ready to throw my support behind Mike or Huck. But then they started opening their mouths. I found my self thinking, that sounds an awful lot like Jimmy Carter.
That might not sound all that amazing. But you must factor in this, I was born in 1976. I have no first hand memory of the Carter Presidency. Yet I know how deep of a hole this country got into during the 4 years he was in office. How absolutely everything economic came to a screeching halt. How badly botched our foreign dealing became.
When someone Truth Seeker's age draws parallels with Carter, it's one thing. When you find a 31 year old thinking the same thing, that's some else entirely.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this way. There's only one thing wrong. I don't think anyone in this group of panty-waists deserves to be compared to Reagan. Not even close. Bush Sr. (Mr. I-don't-have-enough-guts-to-finish-the-job-so-I'll-leave-millions-of-people-to-be-tortured-and-killed himself), maybe, but not Reagan.
Matthew makes a good point. You can see Reagan-like qualities in some candidates. But no Reagan clones.
Where are the Ronald Reagans of today? May the Lord have mercy on this great country and save us from and other Carter-like or worse yet another Clinton presidency!
Z
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